Nova-chan: Yep, it has taken me an awful long time updating. But, I think that's the mastermind behind success: not getting too bogged down on one subject. Juggling several subjects at once makes all the stories great, and the readers happy.

Xelloss: Or in your case, it make all the stories pointless and all the readers bored. .

Nova-chan: (glare) ANYway....here's part um.....

Lina: Nahga should be here any minute now....

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Quote of the chapter:

Librarian: What was the file name?

Jennifer: (looks angrily at NoV) "Happy Jen"....

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Xelloss phased in before the impressive dragon temple. Filia twitched in his arms. He regarded her, cryptically. Over half of her body was scorched or bloody. Her clothes had been ripped to shreds, only bits and pieces still clinging to her skin, pressed into wounds. Her face was bleeding and her eyes were tightly shut, enduring the pain.

He would have to go outside of his normal zone of comfort and enter the dragon shrine. He had to do it to save Filia. After all, it wouldn't do to report back to his master saying that he had allowed her to be killed!

The door creaked open as he slowly pushed it inward, balancing Filia and her precious basket with a steady arm. Xelloss was faced with faraway glows and hushed hallways. Not exactly a very welcoming place. In fact, the whole air of "goody-goodness" that the temple gave off was starting to give him a headache.

A moan from the girl he carried reminded him of the urgency of his visit. He rushed down the silent halls until he came across a young girl huddled into a corner. She was apparently trying to hide herself from the danger of an unwelcome mazoku visitor. A stream of tears spilled down her face when she realized that she had been spotted.

She decided to gather up her courage when she saw the limp form of a fellow priestess in the murderer's arms. "Wh-what are you doing here??" she demanded, hoping that he voice wasn't shaking. "What are y-you doing with Filia?"

"Who are you?" Xelloss wanted to know, ignoring her questions. "Are you a priestess? A healer?"

The girl was taken aback. "Uhhh....I-I'm Cecile," she finally replied. "Yes, I'm a priestess and healer."

Xelloss was relieved to have found this girl. She could help Filia. And he could take her to his Master.....he did still want to do that, right? "She's been hurt badly. You have to help her." He was holding Filia out toward her, as if Cecile would carry her away.

"Come with me," Cecile said, turning her back to him and walking down the corridor. Why did he want her to heal Filia so badly? That monster was obviously the one who had hurt her in the first place! Oh, well. Who knew about mazoku and their wacky agendas? As long as it was for a good cause.

She eventually led Xelloss into a candle-lit room with books lining one wall and a bed set casually on the floor. Xelloss carefully laid Filia on the bed, her eyes twitching as he did so. He would have teleported away for a while, at least until Filia was back on her feet, but something about the temple's white magic was interfering with his black magic. He couldn't reach the astral plane from inside it. He settled for a chair in the corner, instead, his headache increasing with each passing moment.

Cecile seemed very calm about the whole ordeal, as if she had all the time in the world to play around before helping Filia. She slowly searched for certain bottles of serum and books before she was content that she had all the supplies she required.

Xelloss looked on in silent wonder as the less-attractive dragon hovered over Filia, chanting and massaging the serum into her skin. She repeated the same incantations over and over for about ten minutes, before she stood up straight and wiped off her hands with a grey cloth.

Cecile looked toward Xelloss with a calm that made him feel very powerless. "She should be all right after a day of rest. I insist that she stay here for the night," she informed him.

She didn't stick around to hear any arguments, not that he would have given her any, and walked out the door and onto more important things.

Xelloss scooted his chair over beside the bed. Filia looked a lot more peaceful now. Her wounds had lessened and her eyes weren't clenched in pain. She would wake up soon, he knew.

Xelloss groaned as his headache began to blur his vision. Solemnly, he held his head in his hands, as he felt his stomach flip. He needed to lie down and get some rest. After all, he hadn't had a good night's sleep in over three hundred years! He was long overdue. Filia was on her side now, only taking up half of the bed. Oh, what the heck! Who would ever know?

Xelloss climbed in bed beside Filia, hoping that she wouldn't wake up and kill him.

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NoV: Yai!

Xelloss: That's—

Filia: --wrong....

NoV: Stay tuned!!